Changes
by Shinobi-dono
Summary: He single-handedly changed decades of tradition. He single-handedly changed her too.


**Shinobi-dono: Well, this is kind of short, but I thought I'd try my hand at a one-shot. I also wanted to try and explore Astrid's character a bit more. I felt she was a bit out of focus in the movie until the later stages, which is a bit of a shame. Plus, I wanted more experience writing a female character. Hopefully I was spot on.**

**In any case, please, read and review!**

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><p>It was slowly getting easier, but she felt it shouldn't have been so difficult to begin with. She'd seen the Vikings return from their battles worse for wear. She was no stranger to the brutality of the Viking lifestyle. She'd spent her odd time thinking of how cool it would be to get a scar from a fierce battle. Maybe one right across the bridge of her nose, cheek-to-cheek. She didn't have too much of a preference where.<p>

But seeing that young boy without his leg made her feel weak.

There were plenty of others with replacements for their limbs, she reasoned. It was an occupational hazard, she argued with herself. They'd all rushed in there fully expecting the worst outcome if it came. At least, they were all in mutual agreement it had been one of the most insane ideas they'd ever come up with.

So why did she worry so much?

Maybe it was because it had been so personal. She'd seen the state of him following the great battle with the Green Death. She'd seen the painful wound in all its horrific and brutal reality. Or maybe it was because she loved him so much.

It was still something she was getting used to. She would be lying if she said she never thought of him the same way the villagers used to. "Hiccup the Useless". Well, maybe she had never been so cold as to say that, but despite that she could not deny she'd ever thought of him as more than a skinny, weak wimp. No muscle, no stamina – only a head lost in dreams and a mouth that spewed out as much snark as he breathed in air.

Yet he was the strongest of them all.

It had been a gradual progression, but he'd gone from being this good-for-nothing klutz unable to lift her axe to the expert on Dragons and the only person in the history of Berk to defy the age-old traditions of the Vikings and end the war. He'd been brave enough to stand up to his people, to stand up to the Green Death. He'd even been strong enough to stand up to his own father.

In spite of the thoughts she'd once had of him, she'd fallen for him. She could feel it completely changing herself in a way she'd never expected. In all honesty, it was almost terrifying how much he'd changed her. She was no less the Viking girl she'd always trained to be – she still had the occasional thought of how impressive a battle scar would be and she still took pride in being able to outperform any other fighter her age. But he'd changed her.

She'd look to him and offer a smile without any reason to. If she had started feeling annoyed or tired, seeing him would brighten up her features and eliminate her troubles. Of course, there would always be the awkward look down towards his missing left leg and the metal prosthetic replacing it. There would be side-glances when he wasn't paying attention to his leg. The guy still needed help walking around with it. Thankfully, he'd gotten much better, but she had always been ready to offer him support when he needed it.

She no longer felt the need to be on guard. To be ready to punch someone at a moment's notice. To prove her strength and stand her ground. It was like years of subdued emotion just... Burst from within. She was doing things the old Astrid would never do. She'd hug people. She'd do her best to help people with their problems when times arose. She'd even kissed Hiccup in front of people! Granted, it was right after he'd finally woken up and left the house for the first time following the battle with the Green Death, but she'd have never, _ever_ done something like that before she'd developed this... Bond with Hiccup.

Now, right now she stared at him with soft eyes, watching with a smile as he handed some fish to his pet dragon. No, that wasn't right. He handed the fish to his best friend. Toothless wasn't just a dragon, nor was he just a pet. He was not just Hiccup's best friend, but in all likelihood he was probably his _first_ friend.

"See something you like?" he asked with that confident smirk. It seemed like every moment he was with Toothless, his confidence went straight through the roof.

"More like a target, if you're going to start making those kind of comments," she responded. Okay, maybe she hadn't completely changed. But then, in some ways neither had he.

"Ooh, wow, let's not get hasty," he responded in complete deadpan as he stood up, raising his hands defensively in a slightly-joking manner. She shook her head in response, slowly striding towards him.

"Relax. If someone was going to kill you for a comment like that, I'm sure you would've been dead a long time ago," she told him.

"Haha... Ha... You're not serious, right? Right?" he'd turned to Toothless for some back up. The dragon just looked at him for a moment, as if wondering why Hiccup was trying to include him in this.

"Still," she began as she closed the distance, now standing before him. Gesturing all across his body, she continued. "If you weren't all this, I don't think I'd have ever fallen for you".

"How often is everyone going to-" Hiccup didn't even get to finish before her lips were pressed against his, her arms wrapped around his waist.

The way she kissed him never betrayed the fact she was just as inexperienced as he was. She'd never felt this way for a boy before and she'd never once thought she'd ever be this open with someone; this free to express how she felt. But she didn't care one bit. She liked this change.

Almost as much as she liked him.


End file.
